Before her tour stops in St. Louis, Missouri, the Grammy Award winner confidently showed off her killer dance moves, waving her arms around and stomping her feet to the beat of 2003 hit Shake Ya Tailfeather. Lizzo is currently on the second leg of The Special 2our in North America, and it’s in support of her fourth studio album Special which was released last summer.
Special is the follow-up to Lizzo’s multi-Grammy Award album Cuz, I Love You.
Cuz, I Love You was released in 2019 and went on to win Grammy Awards: Best Urban Contemporary Album, Best Pop Solo Performance for the single Truth Hurts, and Best Traditional R&B Performance for the song Jerome. Lizzo’s 17-date run kicked off at the Thompson-Boiling Arena in Knoxville on April 21 and during the show, the singer took a stand against Tennessee Senate Bill 3, known as the ‘drag ban.’
For her dance video, Lizzo’s normally flowing brunette hair was left tucked in a bubblegum pink headscarf and she also sported black shades.
The routine was filmed on her hotel balcony that overlooked the city’s historic Gateway Arch and to get her fans hyped, the juice hitmaker captioned it, ‘St Louis tonight!’
As with the bill, it had been signed by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee in March but a federal judge in the state swopped in on April 21 to temporarily block it from implementing. And to show solidarity, Lizzo alongside a crew of drag performers on stage delivered a touching speech about why she decided not to cancel her Tennessee show in the wake of the anti-drug backlash. ‘In light of recent and tragic events and current events, I was told by people on the internet, ‘Cancel your shows in Tennessee,’ ‘Don’t go to Tennessee,” she began.
She continued, ‘Their reason was valid, but why would I not come to the people who need to hear this message the most? The people who need to feel this release the most?’
The Good As Hell singer emphasized her desire to create a ‘safe space’ for LGBTQIA+ people and other minority groups at her shows, adding ‘Why would I not create a safe space in Tennessee where we can celebrate drag entertainers and celebrate our differences and celebrate fat Black women?’ What people in Tennessee are doing is giving hope, so thank you so much for standing up for your rights, protecting each other, and holding the people accountable who should be protecting us.’
Lizzo concluded, ‘I hope that I can help you in any way because you have helped me so, so much, you don’t even understand.’ Notably, the singer officially started her The Special 2our with a European leg that ran from Feb 17th to March 16. In between, Lizzo debuted the album’s lead single About Damn Time on April 14th. The single took home the Grammy for Record Of The Year at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards this past February. In total, the singer has a total of 13 Grammy nominations and four total wins.
